First off Happy Halloween to everyone and I hope you all get a little vacation after the pst few months of madness! If you are like me you look forward to the end of the season but immediately are planning for the next.

I have been a haunter for about 11 years and have managed several semi-professional charity haunts over the years. A co-operator and myself took this year off to begin plans for our first pro-haunt in 2011 and we have ben working to get a buisness plan together. We are used to being able to obtain buildings by owners loaning them to the orginasation for use to help raise funds and by free advertisment due to the non-profit status. This year we are on our own and I am looking for some advise from those out there who have been in our shoes....

1. How hard is it to find a 10,000 Sq. FT building that is leaseable for two-three months vs. an annual lease agreement?

2. We have a good deal of funds to start-up with but we would like to obtain additional funding to be able to have some additional building funds. Has anyone actually ever been able to obtain a loan for a haunt? It seems there are those allusive stories kinda like bigfoot but no-one seems to know a financial instiution that has ever funded a loan.

3. Does anyone have any guidelines for security officer policies? This is a grey area that is difficult to find any info on.

Way to get an early start! Trust me... it still won't be enough time. In order:

1. From a realtor's perspective, a 2-3 month lease agreement is a waste of time. Considering the amount of paperwork, negotiating and legal wrangling required for a large scale lease, their return on investment for a short period is not enough to justify the footwork. But, the average retail store size is just over 10K feet, so maybe you could find a recently closed spot in a mall or busy area that needs to fill a slot temporarily. Can't hurt to ask!

2. Loan officers typically love businesses with tried and true business plans in industries with rock solid reputations, and guaranteed potential. Unfortunately, haunted houses do not fit these criteria. At least in my experience, it can be exceedingly difficult... but others here might have more insight than I.

3. As far as security goes, you can not go wrong with hiring off-duty police officers. They usually charge a reasonable amount ($20/hr here), their presence can be a huge deterrent to potential troublemakers (guns and tasers and cuffs, oh my), and the local PD will be much more willing to help you out if their own people are onsite. Keep a couple on hand, with their squad cars out front. The end!

Bought a farm.
He needed $400,000. His Daddy cos-signed for him, his Daddy owned the farm that was being sold.
40 yrs later Jr. has went throgh ALOT of money trying numerous businesses, has nothing now.